All Forum Posts by: Tim Delaney

Quote from @Tiarnan Gormley:

Quote from @Tim Delaney:

Congrats on wanting to get started! If you aren't going to be living in Texas then it would be tough to do a house hack there. I'm not sure what the markets are like in Edinburgh or London, but I would look into house hacking in one of those cities once you know which one you'll be in.

You definitely can invest in rentals in the US remotely, there are plenty of investors that do. But you will need some good capital and reserves unless you have a very trusted boots on the ground partner that can help you out. I'm also thinking that if you are just getting your first credit card it may take you a year or two to build up some credit in the US to get loans.

I don't think I would want to invest at all over here in the UK because I've seen first-hand how much worse it is and how "renter happy" it is over here. If someone doesn't pay their rent, then it can take over a year to evict them, and then I'd be left paying that mortgage and fees for a lawyer, etc. Also, I believe the tax benefits are horrible compared to the states, but I'm not too sure. It's what happened to my dad. Is there a way I can "co-sign" with one of my parent's credit cards and be on their credit history in order to boost my credit score?

Worry about one problem at a time. First figure out how you can even qualify for a loan since you are a student with I’m guessing little to no income. There are going to be potential issues with tenants anywhere. If you are able to buy a house where you are and have your friends as roommates I’m thinking you will be more likely to be able to collect rent. Then sell the house when you are going to move. I doubt you’d qualify for a mortgage in Texas while on a gap year since you are just getting credit now and won’t have any income to show a bank.

Spend some time listening to as many podcasts and reading books about real estate while trying to save as much as possible to help you get started.

You'll want to put together a personal financial statement (basically lists of all your assets and liabilities) and have your tax returns ready. You may not need these, but it's a good practice anyway. It may be best if you identify a property, even if it's a longshot and work with a lender to see what they would ask and how they respond. Be honest with them if that is what you are doing though so you don't waste their time if they are busy.

Also, I just came across this post: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/921/topics/1227533-is-n...

I have no idea who this person is or how accurate, but you may want to investigate if you are thinking about the UK market.

Congrats on wanting to get started! If you aren't going to be living in Texas then it would be tough to do a house hack there. I'm not sure what the markets are like in Edinburgh or London, but I would look into house hacking in one of those cities once you know which one you'll be in.

You definitely can invest in rentals in the US remotely, there are plenty of investors that do. But you will need some good capital and reserves unless you have a very trusted boots on the ground partner that can help you out. I'm also thinking that if you are just getting your first credit card it may take you a year or two to build up some credit in the US to get loans.

The market can be tough right now. Have you crafted your ideal criteria and communicated it to a solid buyers agent and wholesalers in the market you are looking? There are deals out there, but I have found less good ones recently in my market - but you just keep looking and analyzing, eventually something will work out. 

Quote from @Luis Herna:

ok, I do not have the PSA yet. We are in the LOI stage.. Like I said I have the buyer ready to buy. So again, can I put my name as the assignor and his name the assignee both as buyers or just my name?

 I think that is more of a question for your attorney and the answer will likely vary by state. Are there wholesalers in your market you can ask if you don't want to talk to a lawyer for some reason?

Thanks for more context, but it doesn't really answer what your goals are. Or what your actual return on investment would be if you continue to rent vs. sell now. In my experience tenants on the lower end of rent tend to cause more damage than higher price tenants. It sounds like you may not be cut out to manage rentals in which case you should probably sell. But again, why did you get into it in the first place and do you still have those goals?

If your loan is $110K then the payment on the 15 year would be $927/month at 6.15%; 30 year option at 6.625% would be $690. If you want to grow aggressively then having the extra cash available to you today is more important. There are some very aggressive investors that refi into interest only products to free up even more cash in the short term - this can be much more risky though, so not recommended if you are not very experienced and have large reserves. The interest rate isn't that huge of a difference between the 15 and 30 so worst case scenario if you have the 30 year option is you start paying it down on a 15 year timeline - sure you'll pay a little more in interest over the 15 years, but it will have been worth it if you bought another house.

If you already have the buyer and the seller in agreement, you can probably skip the LOI and go straight to a contract. If this is your first deal, it's probably best to get a lawyer to make sure you're doing everything properly.

If you've been self-employed for more than two years, you should be able to go to a bank for a HELOC on your primary. If not, you should at least check with some of the local community banks. The local banks may also have insight or ability to give you an LLC on an investment property.